C Is For Cherish
by Exotos135
Summary: Sometime after moving with her cousins, the Casagrandes, Ronnie Anne gets a letter and tries to discover who sent it.


In a fairly normal day at the Casagrandes, Ronnie Anne helped Carlota and CJ deal with the street cats by throwing water balloons at them with a slingshot, while CJ and Carlota sprayed them downstairs with water sprays... While cosplaying as superheroes.

"Go and never return, street cats!" CJ exclaimed. "Otherwise, you'll face the wrath of Super CJ!"

"And Lady Leg-ion!" Carlota added.

Ronnie Anne couldn't help but chuckle at her cousins' superhero personas as they chased after the fleeting cats, allowing Ronnie to focus on what Bobby shouted from the door:

"Ronalda! The mail is here and the cats have been driven away! Help me sort it out!"

"Coming!" she answered.

The tomboy immediately ran downstairs, and helped her older brother sort out the mail outside. It was all stored on a mailbox, as those devious street cats were always there to prevent any mailman from delivering anything at all. And even then, the mailbox was clearly scratched to some extent.

Good thing Super CJ and Lady Leg-ion were keeping those meddling cats at bay.

So Ronnie and Bobby took all the mail they could, went back inside, then sorted the mail all over the table. Most of it was just random offers, coupons, lottery tickets-Curse Carlota and her lottery obsession!-and, in particular, there was one pink mail that rested alone to the side. And of course, this, along with the fact it was apparently for Ronnie, caught the tomboy's attention.

So she opened it, and read it out loud:

* * *

 _Dear Ronnie Anne,_

 _I'm sorry that I couldn't deliver this letter to you personally, but those darn street cats were way too scary and aggressive, kind of like my sister back before mom to have me move with my aunt. I couldn't approach them, so when I saw your family's apartment had a mailbox, I put it there and left as fast as I could before those feline monsters attacked me._

 _I just majorly wasted everybody's time, haven't I? Sorry..._

 _Anyway, I just would like to let you know that... Well... I'm happy that you moved. You see, I've admired you for a while back in Royal Woods, but since I lived in this street, I never could convince mom to take me to Royal Woods, just to meet you, only to go to school._

 _But now that you live in this street... I wanted to know if you, I don't know, would like to come to visit sometime? Maybe hang out? I admire you, I really do, so if you said yes, it would be a dream come true._

 _So... W-What do you say?_

 _With love, "C"_

* * *

"Aw, that sounds so nice!" Bobby remarked, clasping his hands. "It reminds me of the letters Lori used to send me back in Royal Woods!"

Ronnie, of course, did the "gag" gesture in disgust. "Ronalda!" the guy scolded, gently hitting his sister in the head.

"Sorry, Bob, but you know what I think about sappy stuff like this." the tomboy eyed the letter. "Even so, I'll admit it's a good letter. Though, I wonder who this "C" person is."

"Well, it can't be from any of our relatives, 'cause everybody's here and accounted for," Bobby argued with a shrug. "Except for CJ and Carlota, but then again, I don't see how they'd find the time to write a letter, then get rid of the street cats as superheroes."

"And besides, this doesn't look like either of their writing styles," Ronnie said, before taking another look at the writing. "I think? How do they write anyway?"

Bobby showed Ronnie a piece of paper with CJ's handwriting, which didn't look anything like the smooth, thin writing of the letter. "Yeah, no comparison there."

Then he showed one with Carlota's writing, and it was a closer match: It was smooth, thin, but also pretty small. "Oh wow, it's so beautiful, so elegant, so... Undecipherable."

"And everybody else's handwriting doesn't fit the letter's," Bobby remarked before throwing away the remaining writings he had hidden. "Maybe we could look around the building? Not that we should do this in a rush, we're on a Sunday, of course."

"Hmm... That's actually a decent idea.." Ronnie snapped her fingers. "I know! Bobby, you and I will separate and look around for anybody who has any idea about who wrote the letter!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course! As long as we look diligently, we should find something about the letter eventually!"

 _Eventually later..._

Ronnie leaned against a wall, looking clearly exhausted. "I can't believe nobody knows anything about this letter!" she whined. "I mean, I know it could come from somewhere outside the apartment, but it's Sunday! I don't wanna go out on a weekend!"

And then Bobby arrived. "Hi, Bobby, did you find anything about it?"

"Not really, but guess who I found while I was searching outside?" Bobby put his arms on his hips. "Mrs. Johnson, Lincoln's homeroom teacher, lives across the street! I talked with her for a bit, and she invited us to come for a visit!"

"Lame-O's teacher lives around here?" Ronnie got up and dusted herself. "Okay, better than laying here whining. Take me there, bro."

Bobby winked, and the Santiago siblings immediately went to Mrs. Johnson's house, a green house at the other side of the street, and the woman warmly welcomed the duo... Alongside a familiar redheaded girl, who hid behind her legs.

"Please, come in!" Mrs. Johnson said as the siblings went inside, with Ronnie focusing on the hidden girl as she added, "You don't know how sad everybody, including me, were when we found out you and Mrs. Santiago were moving. But now that you're here, we can at least keep in contact."

"Yo, Teach-O, who's the girl hiding behind you?" Ronnie asked, staying focused on the hidden gal.

The redhead flinched, and hesitantly came out of hiding as Mrs. Johnson said, "That's my niece, Cristina."

She brushed her hair in an affectionate way. "She moved on with me since a little incident back in Royal Woods," the woman shook her head. "Apparently her sister, Becky, got into some trouble for... Questionable decisions, and she's staying with me until things calm down."

Ronnie continued to stare at the redhead, giving Mrs. Johnson an idea. "Perhaps you would like to hang out with her while I talk with your brother? After all, we have a lot of things to discuss that shouldn't be discussed in front of children."

"Is one of these topics related to Lori's reaction to us moving?" Bobby asked.

"Pretty much."

"Yeah, we need to discuss that alone."

 _And so..._

Ronnie Anne Cristina-I mean, Ronnie _and_ Cristina-sat on the living room, with Bobby and Mrs. Johnson talking close to the kitchen, where they could see them just in case something happened. For the most part, though, Ronnie seemed more than happy to just give the redhead a stern look, while she focused on writing something.

What she was writing, though, wasn't so important as how she was writing. Ronnie took a closer peek at it, and soon noticed something odd:

Her handwriting looked almost like the letter's writing.

One look st the thing later, though, and she changed her mind: It looked exactly like the letter's writing.

"Okay, I don't wanna freak you out, but there's something I got to ask you," Ronnie said, catching the redhead's attention as she showed her the letter. "Do you know anything about this letter?"

Cristina flinched at the sight, but didn't answer. However, it was clear she felt uncomfortable with the subject.

"Come on, girl, your handwriting, from what I can tell, looks exactly like this letter's writing, so I need you to tell whether this is a coincidence or not."

Same response. Or non-response, in this case. And once more, the girl grew even more uncomfortable.

"Listen, I'll leave you alone once you tell me if you know anything about this letter," Ronnie showed the letter once more, this time putting on a furious look to show she wasn't willing to waste her time. "A yes or no will be enough, just-"

"Ronnie Anne, leave Johnson's daughter alone!" Bobby called, sounding incredibly displeased. "Sorry, Mrs. Johnson, Ronalda can be rather... Intense, and curious, with new people."

"No, it's okay, I guess I should've told you about Cristina's... Condition, the instant Ronnie showed interest in her," the woman took a deep breath. "You see, Mr. and Mrs. Santiago-"

"We're not married!" Bobby hastily clarified.

Mrs. Johnson paused, then continued with her answer: "Cristina is mute. That means she can't really talk or communicate like you or I do. She can use sign language to talk, but I assume you don't know what's that."

"Sign language?" Bobby repeated.

"You know," Mrs. Johnson showed her hands. "The one that involves your hands?"

"Our hands can talk or something?" Ronnie inquired.

The woman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'll take that as a yes. Look, just try to be a bit more sensitive when dealing with Cristina, okay? She's very shy and easily startled, and if you keep acting like that, you may scare her. And if you do that, you'll leave me no choice but to ask for you and your brother to leave."

Upon hearing that, Ronnie flinched and turned to her brother, who simply requested, "Just... Try to be more gentle, okay?"

And so, the guy and teacher went back to discuss their stuff close to the kitchen, while the girls remained on the living room, looking at the ground as they relaxed from the revelation. However, this also gave Ronnie the chance to think about something, while looking at the letter:

The handwriting on the letter and the handwriting of Cristina looked exactly the same.

The letter mentioned something about the person who wrote going to live with their aunt, and Cristina was living with Mrs. Johnson, who she said was her niece a while ago.

And of course, the letter was signed by "C," and Cristina's name started with such a letter.

Seeing there was only one obvious question to ask, Ronnie said:

"H-Hey, Red-O?"

Cristina immediately heard and turned to look at Ronnie, who took a deep breath as she prepared to ask the question. She then looked to her left and right, and once she verified nobody other than Mrs. Johnson and Bobby were watching, she showed the letter again and asked:

"I-Is this your letter?"

The mute girl flinched at the sight, but once she saw Ronnie's reassuring smile-and surprisingly adorable blushing-she reached for her back, and took out a paper and pen. She wrote something, then revealed it to the tomboy:

It was the word "yes," written in the exact same style as the letter.

"Oh..." Ronnie glanced at the letter, then the seemingly scared Cristina. "You know... What you wrote is a bit sappy for my tastes but... I-I'm flattered."

Cristina's eyes grew wide and she blushed as the tomboy added:

"And, to answer your letter... S-Sure, I would like to hang out," Ronnie shrugged. "And sorry for acting a bit aggressive about the letter earlier. I like to think I was more along the lines of stubborn, but hey, you got a little scared either way, so I need to apologize for that anyway."

The redhead smiled, then offered a handshake. Ronnie, figuring it wouldn't hurt to return the shake, accepted the offer and grabbed Cristina's hand... Only for the redhead to pull her into a hug, which she tightly gave as the tomboy was, at first, caught off-guard, but she soon returned the hug with a smile, if only to be polite.

Not that Mrs. Johnson and Bobby minded the sight.

"Huh, now that's a sight I don't see everyday: Nie Nie being hugged by someone that's not a family member, and actually returning the hug with glee," Bobby remarked with a smile. "Your niece seem to be liking it too. Why's that?"

"Hehehe, I don't know, Bobby," Mrs. Johnson shook her head. "I don't know."


End file.
